


The Truth of Love

by dreamiflame



Category: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, She-Ra: Princess Of Power
Genre: F/M, Kissing, Mutual Pining, Non-Explicit Sex, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-23
Updated: 2016-10-23
Packaged: 2018-08-23 12:20:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8327593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamiflame/pseuds/dreamiflame
Summary: On a mission to save a distant world, She-Ra and He-Man discover they have a lot more in common than they thought.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Elizabeth (anghraine)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/anghraine/gifts).



> I hope you enjoy this, Elizabeth! Adam/Adora was my very first ship, so it was fun to revisit.
> 
> Thanks to my beta for fixing my mistakes, making suggestions, and helping make it so much better. You're the best.

Adora woke up trembling from dreaming, her body flush with heat. It was early - she could still hear Bow snoring in the tent next to hers, and the quiet, sleeping murmuring of the Whispering Woods at night.

Her hand crept to her stomach, then she forced her fingers flat. It would be easy, too easy, to let the remnant of her dream and her own fingers guide her to release. But guilt gnawed at her.

She’d been dreaming of Adam. Again.

Nevermind that when they’d met, and she’d found herself momentarily breathless at how attractive she’d found him, they hadn’t known they were twins.

Adora knew now. And yet, she dreamed of him, sometimes in chains as he’d been on Beast Island, sometimes free and reaching for her as she reached for him.

They were not dreams a sister should have about her brother, no matter how long they had been apart.

Adora turned on her side, punched her pillow in frustration and squeezed her eyes shut. She had to stop thinking about Adam like that. Especially in her dreams.

She waited till the fire in her blood cooled, resolutely thinking about everything but Adam, and her wicked dream, then got up to dress for the day.

Perhaps the Horde would do her a favour and attack early today to help distract her further from her shameful thoughts. Adora left her tent, nodded to the sentries and slipped off to groom Spirit, comforting herself that these thoughts would pass.

*

Her hopes for a battle were in vain. For the third day in a row, the Horde didn’t attack at all. Hordak and his minions were staying in the Fright Zone after the last time the Rebellion trounced them. Adora had to admit to herself she was pretty proud of how well they had done. They hadn’t even needed She-Ra’s help to win.

She was bent over a map with Glimmer and Bow, planning the next day’s supply run, when a ripple of excitement swept through the clearing. Glimmer looked up first, but Adora continued to frown at the map, and the small symbols there. There were more and more villages willing to aid them, and they were relying too heavily on the closer villages.

“We need to move farther out-” she started.

“Adam!” Glimmer cried in delight, and Adora’s head snapped up. “What a surprise!”

Adora’s treacherous feet had her halfway to Adam before she’d even decided to move. 

“Adam!” she cried, and Adam smiled and swept her up in a hug. The feel of his strong arms around her brought back memories of the dream from this morning, and Adora shoved it ruthlessly down.

It was just a hug, between siblings who didn’t see each other nearly often enough. It didn’t _mean_ anything.

“Hi, Adora,” Adam said into her hair, and his arms tightened for a moment before he let her go. “You look tired. The Horde giving you trouble?”

Bow stepped up and took her brother’s hand, shaking it heartily. “No indeed, my friend, they have been most quiet the last few days. We fought off their latest scheme handily about three days ago.”

Adam smiled again, but Adora could see worry under the jovial expression. “Sounds like I came at the perfect time, then,“ he said, and turned to Adora again. “I came to convey a message. He-Man and She-Ra need our help for a very special mission.”

“Of course,” she agreed immediately.

Unlike many other times, there were few protests about her leaving. The Great Rebellion had become more organized over the months and years fighting the Horde. The Horde, in contrast, was becoming more chaotic and desperate.

“If He-Man and She-Ra need Adora, it’s the least we can do for all the help they’ve given us,” Glimmer said, and there were nods around the clearing. “Be careful, Adora, and we’ll see you when you return.” It was settled.

Just like that, she, Adam and Spirit were heading back to the part of the forest where the Sorceress had made their portal. Adam sat behind Adora on Spirit, his large hands resting on her hips.

Adora fought back shivers and tried to focus on riding.

“What kind of special mission?” she asked.

Adam sighed. “The Sorceress received a message from a friend of hers from a distant world, and pledged our help. It seems she has been attacked by an army of monsters and robots.”

“The Horde? Or Skeletor’s group?”

“I don’t think so,” he said, leaning into her. Adora fought back more shivers. “I think it might be a different group entirely.”

“I wish people would just stay on their own planets, and just try for trade relationships with other people. Why are there so many groups out to conquer others?” Adora sometimes remembered things from her Horde upbringing like relics of a nightmare, but the lies she’d been fed to excuse the Horde’s actions on Eternia failed to ring true anymore.

Adam squeezed her hip. “I know what you mean. I think we’ve gone far enough. Let’s change.”

Spirit drew up and the twins slid off the white horse, unsheathing their swords. A few minutes later, She-Ra and He-Man mounted Swift Wind the unicorn, and the trio continued on their way to the portal.

*

At Castle Grayskull, the Sorceress didn’t have much more information than Adam had given Adora.

“The message from Jovina was very brief, and not very clear. I fear Zephyr may have been captured, and her wand taken from her. Please, you must hurry.”

“Don’t worry,” She-Ra said calmly. “We’ll go help your friend, Sorceress.”

He-Man nodded. “You can count on us.”

The Sorceress gave them a small, tremulous smile. “Thank you both. The distance is very far from Eternia to Jovina, so I won’t be able to keep the portal open for you. You’ll need to contact me through the jewel in your sword, She-Ra, when you’re ready to return.”

“We will,” She-Ra said. He-Man squeezed her elbow, his hand so large that it covered most of her upper arm. He didn’t get taller as He-Man, only a little bit broader, but even that was enough to make She-Ra feel delicate beside her brother.

A few mystical words and passes later, there was a sparkling green portal waiting for them. “Ready?” He-Man asked.

“Always,” She-Ra said, and followed him through, Swift Wind at her heels.

*

Zephyr turned out to be a wind wizard, a being of a race that lived in the clouds and were composed of air. She found the Sorceress’s identification of her as female amusing, but told She-Ra and He-Man to continue to use it, if they found it easier.

She had been captured by her enemies, but being made of breeze, she had simply wafted out of the cell they had placed her in. But they had put her wand in an airless place she couldn’t discover, and that was far more dangerous.

After explaining the situation, Zephyr led them to the small band of resistance fighters who supported her. The fighters were well pleased to meet He-Man and She-Ra.

LeafByRoot, a woman with leaves for hair, appeared to be their leader. “Our scouts have found where the armies of Metal and Fear are keeping Zephyr’s wand,” she told them. “But it’s too heavily guarded. We’re spotted coming long before we get close.”

She-Ra and He-Man exchanged confident smiles. “Just show us where, and leave it to us.”

*

It took them a grand total of three hours to fly to the fort the wand was being kept in, drop silently behind the guards from Swift Wind’s back, and disable the robots watching for intruders before they slipped inside.

The hallway branched just through the door, so He-Man took the left fork, and She-Ra took the right.

She ran into patrols only infrequently, and had no trouble taking care of the ones she did meet. Her hallway finally terminated in a huge, thick iron door, sealed completely shut. This clearly was the airless chamber Zephyr spoke of.

To her regret, there wasn’t a way to pull the door out of its frame quietly, but She-Ra had been getting tired of sneaking around. 

Throwing aside the door, she strode into the containment room. Her hair whipped from the rush of air entering the chamber. She snatched up the narrow silver wand sitting on a cushion on the table in the room, then turned to face the approaching guards.

After that, it wasn’t a matter of fighting her way out so much as getting over the slagged metal constantly in her path. He-Man caught up with her part of the way to the door, and shoved two robots together, causing them to melt together with a two-toned metallic scream. It seemed the robots had a major weakness and He-Man had been exploiting it mercilessly.

“I have to say, I’m not that impressed with this army,” he told her, knocking another robot back into the rest of its three member squad.

She-Ra shielded her eyes as the robots’ internal power sources combined, causing a hugely bright light before they exploded. 

“Neither am I,” she said, and they continued out of the fort, bearing the wand in triumph.

Zephyr looked equal parts pleased and surprised when they returned to present it to her. “That was remarkably fast,” she said.

She-Ra lifted a shoulder in a shrug that she hoped wasn’t too insouciant. “I don’t think this will be a very long war,” she said.

*

A week later, Zephyr, wand in hand, faced down the Grand Robotic General of the Combined Metal and Fear Armies. “Your troops are melted or slain,” she said, her voice loud as a hurricane. “Surrender.”

“Death first,” the General replied, and She-Ra saw what was happening in time to throw herself at LeafByRoot, who was standing behind Zephyr. The General began to glow alarmingly bright, and a second later, exploded.

A piece of shrapnel caught She-Ra high on the thigh as she pushed LeafByRoot out of the danger zone. A few other soldiers in the first row were struck by the white hot fragments, but She-Ra saw no immediate casualties.

Zephyr, being made of wind, suffered no damage, despite having made herself as dense as possible to protect the soldiers directly behind her.

He-Man rushed to She-Ra’s side and helped untangle her from LeafByRoot.

“Thank you,” LeafByRoot rustled.

“My pleasure,” She-Ra assured her. Then He-Man pressed his hand to her leg, frowning down at her wound.

“You’re hurt,” he said, and picked her up.

LeafByRoot offered a handful of leaves and he held them to the cut, applying pressure to staunch the flow of blood.

She-Ra rested her head against her brother’s shoulder, and tried to tell herself she felt lightheaded from the blood loss, but she knew she was lying. “You needn't worry so, He-Man,” she said. “It’s just a scratch.”

“Let the medic decide that,” he said, and carried her off to the hospital tent.

*

When He-Man left the hospital tent at the doctor's firm but gentle insistence, he walked straight into Zephyr and LeafByRoot. He took a step back, apologizing as he did so.

Certainly he hadn’t been thinking of other things, like the way She-Ra’s hair smelled, or how soft her skin was, or how perfectly she fit in his arms. Of course not. Those would be very wrong for him to think about his sister.

“Is your partner all right?” asked Zephyr, her voice blowing gently around He-Man's ears. 

He-Man nearly replied, “My sister is fine,” but he and She-Ra had decided not to give their enemies more ammunition. Prince Adam and Princess Adora had been kidnapped too often as bait for the other as it was.

“My partner is fine,” he said. “The doctor wanted to make sure the shrapnel wasn’t still in the wound, but she should heal with barely a scar.”

LeafByRoot smiled, hair rustling. “She-Ra is a brave warrior, as are you. We owe you a debt we can never repay for your help.”

He smiled at the vegetal Resistance leader. “It was our pleasure. We don’t care much for invaders.”

Zephyr snorted, a strong gust. “Indeed not. I owe the Sorceress my thanks as well. I wasn’t sure my message was strong enough to pass between our worlds.”

“Still,” LeafByRoot said, “perhaps there is something we can do for you. Am I right in thinking you are not married to your partner?”

Startled into a laugh, He-Man shook his head. “No, we’re not married.” For the life of him, he could never understand what imp prompted his next, fateful words.

“Not yet.”

Maybe it was the instant connection he’d felt the first time he’d laid eyes on Force Captain Adora. Maybe it was the dreams he persisted in having, dreams that were far from brotherly. Maybe, deep at heart, He-Man was just a terrible man unable to control his lust.

Whatever the reason, LeafByRoot clapped her twig like hands in glee. “We can make yet happen,” she said, and darted off before He-Man could correct his mistake.

“Blast,” he said quietly. A cool hand touched his shoulder.

“You seem concerned,” Zephyr said. “Is it because you have not asked She-Ra to be your mate in your own traditional way?”

His mate. He-Man swallowed hard.

In so many ways, She-Ra would be the ideal wife. They were very much alike, wanting to help those less fortunate, and right wrongs wherever they found them. She-Ra was tall, strong, graceful, and beautiful.

Even in looks they were similar. Though his hair was a darker shade, they were both blond and blue eyed.

And that was because they were twins, which negated every other reason. But these good people didn’t know that, and a week of fighting plus his concern over She-Ra’s injury left He-Man slow-witted.

“That’s part of it,” he said, lamely to his own ears. “I also don’t think She-Ra wants to make our partnership anything more binding.”

Zephyr patted his shoulder with that same cold hand. It felt a little like he thought a cloud might: the solidified air didn’t have the same give or texture as flesh did. “She-Ra loves you very much. It is obvious to all of us how deep your feelings for one another run.”

“I know she does,” He-Man said. She loves me as her _brother_ , he did not continue. “But marriage - that’s a big step…”

The doctor who had been treating She-Ra came out of the hospital tent, followed swiftly by She-Ra herself. 

“You’ll be fine,” the medic told her, patting her arm with one hand that flashed silver in the sunlight. The woman’s skin looked like fish scales, colored from one angle, silver from another. “Just keep the wound covered and clean.”

“I will,” She-Ra said. “Thank you.”

“You should ask her,” Zephyr told He-Man, and drifted away as She-Ra walked over.

* 

Zephyr gave She-Ra a smile as she left, and She-Ra smiled in return. Then her eyes returned to He-Man.

A frown creased his forehead, and he seemed to be having trouble looking at her. “Did something happen?”

“In a way,” he said, and took her arm. “Come on, let’s go somewhere quiet.”

A few minutes later they were at the edge of the forest, hidden from the camp by a thick row of trees. He-Man released her arm and ran his fingers through his hair, blowing out a deep breath.

She-Ra found a large rock to sit on, giving her leg a rest, and waited for him to start.

“I may have messed up things with LeafByRoot,” he said.

She-Ra tilted her head. He-Man glanced at her blue eyes, so like his own, then away.

“She asked me if we were married, and I said ‘not yet.’ I don’t know why.”

Fighting back a giggle, She-Ra saw where things were headed. “And she wanted to reward us…”

He-Man seemed to hear the laughter in her voice, as the tension eased out of his shoulders. He turned to face her again, only now seeming to see the humor in it.

“LeafByRoot is off getting things ready for our wedding.” She-Ra did giggle now, unable to hold it in. “Zephyr says I should ask you properly.”

Part of her found things even more funny, but the rest of She-Ra was interested in the idea of He-Man kneeling before her in entirely the wrong way. She tried to force herself to banish the thought and failed. 

“I suppose it would be more confusing to try to explain now,” she said.

He-Man nodded.

“And it isn’t like it would be a real wedding, not by Eternian traditions. Or Etherian traditions, for that matter.”

“So we just go through with it?” He-Man was starting to give her a smile.

She-Ra knew her arguments were flimsy at best, but in her deepest heart, she had hoped for some excuse like this. Some perfectly natural reason to kiss her brother, without it being completely wrong.

“Why not?” she said.

She shied away from wondering why He-Man wasn’t raising any other arguments. That way lay madness.

Besides, her brother didn’t think about her the way She-Ra couldn’t stop thinking about him. He was better than that.

“In that case,” he said, and went to one knee before her, taking her left hand in his. “She-Ra, would you care to fake marry me in order to please some allies of ours we may never see again?”

She-Ra squeezed his fingers. “I’d love to,” she said.

*

The ritual was a lot different from the wedding ceremonies both had observed on their mutual planets. He-Man was pretty sure the Jovinans had made up parts of it specific to him and She-Ra, as the vows spoke a lot more about partnership and mutual protecting than most wedding vows he knew.

He-Man held She-Ra’s hand in his and repeated the officiant’s words, trying not to be distracted by how slim but strong her fingers were. “This I do vow to you,” he finished, and their audience cheered.

She-Ra gave him a smile, then repeated her vows. Even louder cheering greeted her promise.

The officiant, a tall broad shouldered man of LeafByRoot’s race of treelike people, then spoke for several minutes about what marriage should be. He-Man tried to keep his mind from wandering, but he kept getting tripped up by the same idea.

On Etheria, the bride and groom kissed at the end of the ceremony.

It was the same on Eternia.

Was it traditional on Jovina, too?

“You may further pledge your devotion with a kiss,” the officiant said, his voice breaking into He-Man’s thoughts.

Well. That answered his question.

*

She-Ra looked a few inches up into He-Man’s eyes, and tried not to let her trembling excitement show. He leaned in, slowly, and she moved to meet him.

They both hesitated a moment more, then their lips touched, soft and warm, very sweet, but very chaste.

The kiss lasted for only a few seconds, but She-Ra could feel her heart racing just the same. The Resistance army witnessing the ritual cheered loudly, and the twins parted, turning to smile at their new friends.

“And now, the feast!” someone yelled, and more cheering swept everyone off to the camp clearing, where a huge, open air feast had been hastily assembled.

She-Ra breathed a sigh of relief as the attention moved from them to the food, and relaxed into the seat she was shown to. 

She and He-Man would have a good meal, say their goodbyes, and head back to Eternia. They would let the Sorceress know everything had all worked out, hug, and then She-Ra would go back to Etheria.

And if she sometimes daydreamed about kissing He-Man, or worse, Adam, well. That was a burden she would bear.

She knew there might be some side effects from being raised by evil for twenty years. She-Ra could control her actions, even if her thoughts were sometimes more unruly.

Then Zephyr appeared, wand in hand, and made a mystical pass with her wand over He-Man and She-Ra’s heads.

She-Ra felt tingling slide from her head down her body, concentrating in places she would have really preferred it avoid: her nipples, between her thighs.

From the deep, almost pained breath he took, He-Man might be suffering the same.

“Zephyr? What do you do to us?”

Zephyr laughed merrily. “I merely gave you an added measure of protection during battle, my dear friends. I know your swords and the Sorceress are powerful, but you have helped save my world, and I am grateful. Hopefully this will help save you someday in return.”

“It tingles,” She-Ra said, trying not to squirm or grit her teeth. Her hand brushed He-Man’s, and the tingling lessened in intensity.

“Oh, yes,” Zephyr nodded. “It takes full effect after you two, uh. Consummate your marriage, as they say, so I put a little in there to help spice things up.”

She-Ra glanced at He-Man, noting his blue eyes were just as wide as hers. “We were planning to leave after the feast,” he said.

Zephyr nodded again. “Yes, of course. Just be sure to hold hands or touch each other frequently, and it shouldn’t be too bad. I’m sure you would feel safer waiting for that until you get home.”

Someone called her name, and Zephyr squeezed their shoulders. “Thank you so much again!” she called as she breezed off.

She-Ra pushed her plate away, no longer hungry. The tingling wasn’t unpleasant, just distracting, but the cure-

He-Man laid two fingers on her arm, and they both gave small sighs of relief. “Give it a few minutes, and we’ll go,” he said. She-Ra nodded, not looking at him.

Consummation of their marriage. This was going to be the best and the worst day of her life, all at the same time.

*

They rode Swift Wind to the clearing the Sorceress had linked the portal to when they’d arrived, then asked the unicorn to give them some time alone. Swift Wind tossed his head, rainbow mane flashing in the sun.

“Gladly,” he neighed. “The grass here is delicious, and we flew over a patch of it on the way here.”

He lifted himself into the air, and He-Man and She-Ra were alone.

“What are we going to do now?” He-Man asked. He could feel his face heating up, and She-Ra was avoiding looking at him. He adjusted himself quickly, feeling the tingles in his cock and testicles strengthen.

His body and his illicit dreams were making it very difficult for him to think clearly.

There was a simple solution here, and if they had really been only partners, it wouldn’t be a problem. But He-Man and She-Ra were twins.

And that made everything infinitely more complicated.

“Maybe we can just wait for the spell to fade,” She-Ra suggested.

“Okay,” He-Man agreed, and they sat on the grass of the clearing, hoping things would fade quickly.

Instead the tingling became a pulsing, until He-Man’s cock was throbbing inside his loincloth. He could see She-Ra squirming out of the corner of his eye.

“I don’t think that’s going to work,” he said.

Whatever imp had possessed his tongue before took over again. As though from a distance, He-Man heard himself say, “Maybe we should just give in.”

She-Ra spun her head to face him. “ _What_?”

“You know. Have sex.” Something was clearly very wrong with him, because He-Man knew normally he would never say anything like that to his twin.

No matter how much he wanted to.

But right now, he was hard, ready and eager for her, and he knew she had to be feeling the same. “I don’t think the spell will ease if we don’t, and it wouldn’t really be our faults. It’s because of the magic.”

“Well,” She-Ra said, careful consideration clear in her tone. “This _is_ getting a bit painful.”

“Exactly,” He-Man said, and started unfastening his belt. She-Ra was doing something to the bottom half of her outfit, and it split apart.

Then they reached for each other, and everything got unclear in the rush of touching and kissing and making the magic stop tormenting them.

To be safe, they consummated three times, just to be sure the spell was satisfied.

Afterwards, He-Man lay on his back in the grass, She-Ra’s head on his shoulder and his arm holding her close. “Not a bad mission,” he said.

She-Ra made a sleepy sound of agreement, and snuggled closer. He-Man hated to bother her when she was so clearly happy, but he had to ask.

“What happens now?”

“We go home. Maybe after a nap,” she said, and yawned.

He-Man stroked his hand down her hair. “I meant about this. We’re married now, even though we can’t tell anyone.”

Her eyes opened and she gave him a wary look. “I don’t know what you mean,” She-Ra said.

He-Man wanted to laugh, but didn't want to spook her.

For all his worry about his unnatural desires, this afternoon’s activities had proven to him that he wasn’t the only one.

If She-Ra had really not wanted him, she could have said stop after the first time. She certainly wouldn't have initiated the second. Or the third.

“I think you do,” he said, and moving deliberately, he pulled her up and kissed her.

She seemed to freeze for just a moment, then she pushed him onto his back and straddled him, bending down to kiss him again.

“I thought it was just me,” she said when they parted, panting for air. “I thought it was something evil left over from my Horde days.”

He-Man shook his head and stroked her cheek. “Not just you,” he said, and she smiled brightly at him. “I love you, She-Ra.”

“And I love you, He-Man. As long as we’re careful, what’s the harm? After all, we _are_ married now.”

“If that’s your wish, wife, I’ll honor it,” he said, and she kissed him again, laughing into his mouth.


End file.
